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US Army Ranks and Insignia (RECON)
This is a list of US Army ranks and insignia used during the Vietnam War (1965-1973). The pay rates are notional and do not reflect historical pay rates for the period. Enlisted Pay Grades :Privates are the Enlisted grades. They have no authority over other soldiers. They are addressed as "Private". Recruits were promoted to Private after attending bootcamp and Advanced Training. Privates who had voluntarily enlisted were promoted to PFC upon being assigned to a combat tour in Vietnam so they wouldn't be outranked by draftees. :Specialists 1955-1985 were Enlisted personnel who had passed courses of specialized training. They replaced the Technician grades 1942-1948 from World War Two. Specialists outranked Privates but were subordinate to Non-Commissioned-, Warrant-, and Commissioned Officers. They are addressed as "Specialist". The grade of Specialist 7 was eliminated in 1978 and the grades of Specialist 5 and Specialist 6 were eliminated in 1985. Specialist 4 was retained from 1985 onwards as a placeholder rank between PFC and Sergeant for personnel that were not promotable to Corporal. Non-Commissioned Officer Pay Grades Non-Commissioned Officers serve as either staff personnel or sub-unit leaders. They perform administrative tasks or act as deputies for their superior officer. They are addressed as "Sergeant". :Corporals are usually staff personnel like Clerks. Privates First Class and Specialist-4s are usually appointed as brevet Fire Team Leaders or the assistant to the Sergeant. :Sergeants are Fire Team Leaders in charge of a Fire Team of 3-5 men. :Staff Sergeants are Squad Leaders in charge of a Squad made up of 2 Fire Teams. :Sergeants First Class are usually Platoon Sergeants (the NCOs-in-Charge of a Platoon's staff) or Company staff NCOs. They usually are at the unit's Headquarters office back at base. :Master Sergeants are usually Battalion staff NCOs. First Sergeants are the NCOs-in-Charge of a Company's staff. :Sergeants Major 1958-Present are the NCOs-in-Charge of a Battalion's staff or sttaff NCOs at Regimental / Brigade or higher Headquarters. :Command Sergeants Major ?-Present are assigned to a Regimental- / Brigade-, Divisional-, or Corps-level commanding officer's staff and personally assists him. :The Sergeant Major of the Army 1966-Present is the NCO assistant assigned to the Army Chief of Staff; it is a two-year appointment that is considered the capstone to a distinguished NCO's military career. Warrant Officer Pay Grades *Extrapolated from a comparison between the Warrant and Commissioned pay rates. Warrant Officers are in a command layer between Non-Commissioned and Commissioned Officers. They have a narrow area of expertise and authority called a Warrant rather than a Commission. They are usually highly trained in a technical field (for instance, some serve as helicopter pilots). Warrant Officers in the US Army are addressed as "Mister", the same as a military cadet or junior commissioned officer. Warrant Officer Candidates must have a high school diploma and have a high-school- or college-level knowledge of science and math. They then attend a technical course and must pass an exam before they can receive their warrant. Warrant Officer Candidates in training are identified by the orange cloth sliders they wear on the epaulets of their shirts. Warrant Officers First Grade (WO/1) are equivalent to Second Lieutenants and are considered on probation. Once the probation period ends (usually around 6 months to a year), the soldier is promoted to Chief Warrant Officer. Commissioned Officer Pay Grades Commissioned Officers have a document called a Commission that is signed and issued by the Secretary of their arm of service (Army, Air Force, Navy, or Marine Corps). It grants the holder general authority over personnel placed under their command and charge. Officers are addressed as "Sir". Officers receive their training by either attending a full-time 4-year Service Academy (like the Army's West Point) or taking the part-time Reserve Officer Training Corps(ROTC) while attending a 4-year college. (Senior Military Colleges like Virginia Military Institute and Norwich University give its graduates the option of seeking a commission, but are considered colleges rather than Service Academies). If the candidate already has a 2-year Associate's Degree or a 4-year Bachelor's Degree, they can attend Officer Candidate School (OCS). This is a 12-week program which trains the candidates in how to become an officer. Direct Commissioned Officers are professionals with a post-graduate education (usually in medicine, law or religion). They receive a rank equal to their expertise and training (usually beginning as Captains). Lieutenants must have completed at least a four-year degree in order to retain their commission. Majors must attend the Intermediate-level Course at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth (or a similar accredited allied school); graduates receive a Masters of Military Arts and Sciences degree. Lieutenant-Colonels and Colonels must attend a command course before assuming command of a battalion or higher command. Officers who receive a commission but have not yet completed the educational requirements to hold that rank before a certain time may be dismissed from the service or reduced to NCO rank. Graduates from Service Academies and the top graduates from ROTC and OCS programs are granted Regular Commissions. ROTC and OCS graduates and Enlisted or NCO personnel breveted to officer rank receive Reserve commissions. They are identical in authority, but officers with Regular commissions have more job security and officers with Reserve commissions may be dismissed at will. Underperforming officers can have their Regular commissions turned into Reserve commissions. Incompetent or corrupt officers can lose their commissions or be allowed to resign them and must leave the service. Field Officers Subaltern Officers are junior officers that command large tactical units (i.e., platoons and companies). Field Officers are senior officers that command maneuver units (i.e., battalions and brigades). Most RECON campaigns involve tactical-level combat. Officer characters realistically shouldn't be promoted above colonel; those that do should become Non-Player Characters. :Lieutenants command a Platoon or act as the Executive Officer of a Company. :Captains command a Company or head one of the components of a Battalion's headquarters staff. :Majors either head a Battalion's headquarters staff, act as the Executive Officer of a separate Battalion, or act as the Commanding Officer of a "Wing" (a detachment made of 2 or more of a Battalion's companies) or an understrength Battalion. :Lieutenant-Colonels command a separate Battalion or act as the Executive Officer of a Regimental Combat Team or understrength Brigade. :Colonels act as the Commanding Officer of a Regimental Combat Team or understrength Brigade (like the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment) or serve as an Executive Officer on a Brigade's Staff. General Officer Grades General Officers command strategic units (Brigades, Divisions, Corps, and Field Armies). :Brigadier Generals command a Brigade. :Major-Generals command a Division. :Lieutenant-Generals command a Corps. :Generals command a Field Army, Army Group, or Theater Command. The Chief of Staff of the Army is a General. :General of the Army (GOA) is an honorary rank (similar to Field Marshal) bestowed upon Generals who commanded an Army Group or Theater Command with distinction. It is not a regular rank in the US Army and no general officers have attained it since World War Two. Bonus Pay *'Hazardous Duty Pay': +$55 (Enlisted), +$110 (Officers). *'Hostile Fire Pay': +$65 (Enlisted and Officers). External Links *[http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/militarypaytables.html Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Historical Military Pay Tables (1949-Present)] Category:Recon